Last 4 OVERS

COMMENTARY

No result | England Vs New Zealand 2nd T20I

With this, New Zealand win the 2-match T20I series 1-0 and thereby end their England tour.

9:08 PM Local Time: Match has been abandoned.

Michael Vaughan tweets: Heaviest rain it's been for 2 hours and now they decide to play....

8:55 PM Local Time: Oh oh! Bad news. The rain is not going anywhere. It has returned.

8:48 PM Local Time: And the word is that the game will begin at 9.03 PM with 6 overs per side.

8.45 PM Local Time: The covers are off again. The game needs to start in 26 minutes from now.

20:08 PM Local Time: Just as the umpires were about to go out for an inspection, the rain has started to come down again. The square has been covered now. But the groundstaff are running the rope around the outfield to clear a bit of water.

7:51 PM Local Time: The good news is that the covers are coming off. No official word on the number of overs lost yet. The pitch is still under cover. We will have to wait to now the re-start time.

7.10 PM Local Time: Well, the official cut-off time is 9.11 PM. Hope the rain stays away and allows us to celebrate Kevin Pietersen's birthday.

7.02 PM Local Time: The rain is steady and the surrounding areas of the pitch have also been covered.

6.35 PM Local Time: Rain stops play here. It is not that heavy. Not all the covers are coming on. They are only covering the pitch. Cannot see any threatening clouds around. Hope the break is a small one.

0.2

Mitchell McClenaghan to Michael Lumb

W

out Caught by Brendon McCullum!! Dream start for Mitchell McClenaghan. The plan to swing the ball away from the left-hander has worked. It was there to be driven outside off stump, Lumb moves across to the off side as the ball was very wide, and in the end he gets an outside edge that goes at a very good height for McCullum at second slip. Lumb c Brendon McCullum b Mitchell McClenaghan 2(2)

0.1

Mitchell McClenaghan to Michael Lumb

2

2 runs, full delivery on the off stump, a hint of out-swing, Lumb walks across and flicks it to backward square leg

Lumb and Hales are at the crease. Lumb is on strike. Mitchell McClenaghan will open the attack

So then. We are all set for the start of play. They are playing on the same pitch that was used a couple of days ago. The weather is not as great as it was on Tuesday. There is a bit of cloud cover. Hopefully we will get a full game. The England openers make their way out to the centre. Here we go for the first ball.

Hello and welcome for the 2nd T20I between hosts England and New Zealand. The visitors held their nerve and edged the home side by 5 runs a couple of days ago. England need to quickly regroup and put up a better show to end the series on a high. The big news is that Kevin Pietersen will be making his comeback in England colours. Meanwhile, James Tredwell will wear the captain's hat as Eoin Morgan will miss the game due to a hand injury. We will bring you the toss and more updates in a short while. Stay tuned...

PREVIEW:

New Zealand will be bringing the curtain down on a roller-coaster summer as they look to clean-sweep England in the final T20I at the Oval. Ever since arriving in England, New Zealand have had to endure the 2-0 humiliation in the Tests, followed by the high of the 2-1 ODI series victory and a first round exit from the Champions Trophy. This tour has once again shown the sporadic nature of New Zealand cricket. Poor at the start, wonderful in the middle but fading away towards the end. England, on the other hand, are still recovering from the debacle of their Champions Trophy final loss to India. Another loss in today's match and they will be heading into the Ashes low on confidence.

TEAM NEWS: ENGLAND

The arrival of Kevin Pietersen for this match is sure to galvanize England into a force. Pietersen's knee injury kept him out of the game for three months and he roared back in style with a blazing 177 against Yorkshire. He will once again be the key player for them if they are to build momentum as they head into the Ashes.

The England batting looks settled and the performances of Alex Hales, Luke Wright and Ravi Bopara were noteworthy. Wright has been in sparkling form in T20I since the 2012 World Cup but England will need a collective effort if they are to counter New Zealand's varied bowling attack.

The bowling is one area of concern for England. Barring Boyd Rankin who picked up a wicket on debut in his first over, the rest of the bowling presented a sorry picture. Chris Woakes gave away 19 runs in his only over that day and he might not make the cut for the second match. James Tredwell, Jade Dernbach and Ben Stokes proved to be ineffective. This could result in changes in the bowling, with the possibility of Danny Briggs coming in for this match.

TEAM NEWS: NEW ZEALAND

Hamish Rutherford was the star performer with the bat in the first T20I as his power-packed 62 laid the platform for a huge score. Brendon McCullum and Ross Taylor showed good form, making the batting order look more stable. On the other hand, the opening slot is a cause of concern for New Zealand. Martin Guptill has still not overcome his hamstring problem and it is unlikely that he will be part of today's fixture as well. This gives James Franklin, who was out for a duck in the first match, another opportunity.

There are few problems with the New Zealand bowling though they will be looking to tighten their bowling at the start of the innings. Mitchell McClenaghan continues to impress while Ian Butler also played a vital hand. Although Ronnie Hira and Nathan McCullum struggled in the first match, they will look for an improved show in today's encounter. Considering England's weakness against spin, they will be confident of making some inroads.

STAT ATTACK

- Luke Wright has scored the most runs in T20Is against New Zealand. In 10 matches, he has scored 273 runs at an average of 30.3 and a strike rate of 158.72.

- New Zealand's 201/4 in the first match is their highest ever score against England in T20Is. Their previous highest was 192/6 at Hamilton in 2013.